« The Pike Giáo » is classified in fourth position among Eighteen Sections of Military Career (Thập-Bát Ban Võ-Nghệ), sharing the same Pole-Arms Category with « Spear -Thương » and « Corsake - Mác ».

        That is an Antique Weapon originating from the Spear Thương but his Blade is narrower than the one of the Spear Thương, and appeared since the « Spring-Autumn Period » (Thời-đại Xuân-Thu - 春 秋 時 代 - 722-481 BC).

           Since the Đông-Sơn Culture Period, the Pike Giáo was specially designed for Cutting much more thanThrusting.

           On the Period afterwards, the Pike Giáo was specially designed for Thrusting much more.

          The Pike Giáo used on battlefields for Infantry having a Shaft long into 6m, was called « Long Pike Giáo Trường » ; while the Pike which was used in hamlets and villages had a shaft about 2,40 m long, often made of Bamboo Vầu, so that it was named « Pike Vầu - Giáo Vầu », a Pole-Arm belonging to the « Category of Particular Arms ».

           The Pike Giáo is still divided into Three main kinds :

            1 - The Pike-Spear Giáo Sóc : specially used for dùng để Cutting much more than Thrusting. Although the Pike-Spear Giáo Sóc can not compare with the Pertuisane Mâu in combat against the Shield Thuẫn, however it is truthly dreadful for Cavalry.

                    2 - The Pike-Sabre "Giáo Đao" : was specially used for the Cutting and the Thrusting. This category of The Pike-Sabre Giáo Đao still called « Phác-Đao (撲 刀) ».

                    3 - The Corsake-Pike Giáo Mác : was specially used for the Cutting and the Thrusting in the same time, but much more for Cutting than for Thrusting.
           That is a weapon truthly dreadful when it is used with Shield Thuẫn. In this case, the Corsake-Pike Giáo-Mác holds a shorted handle.

           Students from Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts need to know to distinguish between the Corsake-Pike Giáo-Mác (cán dài) and the Pike Mác (with much more shorted handle) as : « Mác Vót », « Mác Đầu Ná », « Mác Đầu Lương », « Mác Lá Tranh » and above all with the " Pike for thrusting Buffalo - Mác dùng đâm trâu " from Vietnamese High-Plateaux People, erronemous called because the confusion between the Pike Sóc and the Corsake Mác.

           In these last times, a fourth category of Pike Giáo was invented, that is :

                   4 - The Hatchet-Pike Giáo Rìu : specially used for the Cutting and the Thrusting in the same time. However these Hatchets-Pikes Giáo-Rìu belong to the Category of « Edged Arms » andarbitrarily still erronemoully called by « Hammer-Spear Thiên-Phủ-Giáo () » which belongs to the Category of « Shock Arms ».

           This category of « Hatchet-Pike Giáo-Rìu » - still called « Hatchet Chasse-Spear Sóc-Rìu » - was declined into several models. Although it has an aspect seeming to be more dreadful than the Chasse-Spar Pike Giáo Sóc, finally, it doesn't reach neither the efficient capacity for thwarting adversaries wearing platted wicker Armour so much as the authentic Hammer-Spear Thiên-Phủ-Giáo, nor the deadful level ccomparable with those of the Great Battle Axe holding an Apical Point Đại-Phủ-Việt on bygone days battlefields.

           The Pike Giáo belongs to Category of Weapons loại binh-khí vừa dùng cho Cavalry và vừa dùng cho Infantry ; điều khác-biệt là shaft lengh of Pike Giáo. The shaft of Pike Giáo from Infantry is much more shorter than the one of Cavalry.

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